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Overview

In 1926, Newt Scamander arrives at the Magical Congress of the United States of America with a magically expanded briefcase, which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and threatens to strain even further the state of magical and non-magical relations.

The CGI stuff was expertly executed, but we wouldn’t expect anything less given this film’s pedigree. The beasts were ingenious and the small details in almost every scene were clever and smile inducing. A couple of times I was reminded of Mary Poppins, think carpet bag and the tidying up scene. However, the storyline was thin with too many tails and by the end it felt like an overlong trailer for the four sequels to come. Although there was little character development maybe this will be a slow release over the duration of the franchise if they continue with the same cast. Overall it was average, hopefully the next one will be meatier. Special mention for Alison Sudol for a luminous, almost Monroe-esque performance.